there was a point when obama moved from $250,000 threshold on taxes to 400. boehner put tax rates. >> boehner said for the first time republicans would be willing to support. the question is, how much his troops would be backing him raising tax rates on those over $1 million. which for given the republican fervent opposition to any raise in tax rates, that was a significant step, but then it stopped. >> during that time about a week where the white house and speaker boehner's office was not criticizing each other. lines of communication were open. since then, it's gone south. >> does it seem like a dull story because it's an artificial crisis created by congress itself. they could solve this thing in ten minutes with ample compromise on both sides. while the country is following this news, it's not a breathless anticipation. >> the only thing that is starting to sink in with people, howie, where i think it is getting more public attention is that people are now realizing that their paychecks really will be a lot lower very soon if nothing gets done. therefore